117 killed in US-backed Syrian offensive

Cairo, June 18 (IANS) At least 117 civilians have been killed in the Syrian city of al-Raqqa since June 6, when US-backed Syrian forces began an offensive to expel the IS, a British-based war monitor reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the civilians, including 25 children and 21 women, lost their lives in fighting and airstrikes by the US-led international coalition, Efe news reported.

The SOHR explained that the coalition’s airstrikes also injured hundreds of citizens, with some of the victims suffering mutilation of limbs or permanent disability.

It added that the death toll could rise due to the serious condition of those injured.

Dozens of houses and civilian facilities in the Syrian city were destroyed because of the intense bombing against al-Raqqa city and its surroundings.